Mexican president says the 'flow of migrants will continue' unless the US meets his demands

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and migrant caravan-2024.
Photo: AFP & 60 Minutes show

Mexican President Obrador, nearing the end of his term, warned that the flow of migrants from Latin America into the United State will continue unless billions of aid is sent every year.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador warned during an interview with "60 Minutes" that unless the United States complies with Latin America’s requests for aid, the tide of migrants will continue.

In January, Obrador issued a series of demands for what the U.S. must do to stop the flow of migrants to the border, ranging from sending Latin American countries $20 billion in aid a year to granting some level of amnesty to illegal immigrant workers in the U.S.

"Everybody thinks you have the power in this moment to slow down migration. Do you plan to?" "60 Minutes" corrrespondent Sharyn Alfonsisaid asked Obrador.

"We do, and want to continue doing it. But we do want for the root causes to be attended to, for them to be seriously looked at," a translator interpreted Obrador’s response from Spanish.

Alfonsi noted Obrador's demands for the U.S. to send $20 billion a year to Latin America countries, lift sanctions on Venezuela, end the Cuban embargo and legalize millions of Mexicans that are living in the U.S.

"If they don’t do the things that you’ve said need to be done, then what?," she asked. "The flow of migrants will continue," Obrador responded.

A migrant observes others who breached the concertina wire on the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas on March 21, 2024.

Six hundred migrants, made up of mostly single adult males from Venezuela, stormed authorities, breaching razor wire barriers and overpowering guard members who were trying to stop the migrants.  

Federal authorities are seeking criminal charges for about a dozen illegal immigrants who led a wild and chaotic riot, as they were identified via law enforcement cameras.  

'Those people weren't trying to peacefully enter the country; they were storming the gates,' Texas Congressman Tony Gonzales, who represents east El Paso said in a phone interview.

'What do you think they're going to do when they're released all over the country?'

The migrants had attempted to storm the border Wednesday night, throwing rocks at Texas National Guard members, but ended up dispersing, another source explained.

The crowds were camping out in the no-mans land between north of the river that separates the US and Mexico, the Rio Grande.

According to some information, the Venezuelan authorities released many prisoners from the country's prisons and sent them to Mexico on the United States border.

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